11/06/2004

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I AM A 7th COUSIN TO FIELDING JACKSON HURST, PLEASE DON'T THINK BADLY OF HIM HE LIVED IN A TIME WHEN MEN WERE TOUGH AND HAD TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT WERE NOT ALWAYS PROPER. I HURT IN MY HEART FOR THE THINGS FIELDING SUFFERED. HE BUILT A BEAUTIFUL MANSION IN PURDY THAT STILL STANDS TODAY. FAMILY GOSSIP HAS IT THAT NATHAN B. FORREST DID NOT BURN THE MANSION BECAUSE HE WAS SLEEPING WITH FIELDINGS WIFE MELOCKY. FIELDING WAS AN UNFAITHFUL HUSBAND AS WELL, HE AND MELOCKY HAD NO CHILDREN, HE HAD A DAUGHTER WITH ONE OF HIS MISTRESS'S SHE DIED WHEN THE CHILD A GIRL NAMED FLORA WAS ABOUT 2YRS OLD FIELDING BROUGHT THE CHILD TO LIVE WITH HIMSELF AND MELOCKY, FLORA WAS WELL LOVED BY HER FATHER HE ADOPTED HER WANTED HER TO GO TO THE FINEST CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, BUT SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENED TO FLORA SHE WAS TERRIBLY BURNED WITH A BOILING POT OF WATER BEING USED TO WASH CLOTHES, DON'T KNOW HOW A CHILD OF SOMEWHERE AROUND 10 TO 12 YRS OLD COULD FALL INTO A POT OVER BURNING FIRE. AFTER THE WAR FIELDING WAS MADE TREASURER OF MCNAIRY COUNTY' HE APPOINTED SOME OF THE MEN WHO HAD FOUGHT IN THE WAR WITH HIM TO OFFICES WHICH THEY STOLE LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY' FIELDING HAD BEEN BONDED AS TREASURER' WHICH MEANT HE HAD TO PAY THE MONEY BACK. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME WHEN FLORA WAS BURNED THAT THEY LOST THE MANSION. FIELDING DIED A FEW YEARS LATER, AND A FEW YEARS LATER FLORA DIED FROM HER BURNING INJURYS, SHE WAS NOT BURIED WITH HER FATHER BUT IN THE WOODS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM WHERE SHE HAD SPENT THE LAST FEW YEARS OF HER LIFE ALONE WITH MELOCKY. MANY OF THE THINGS IVE HEARD ABOUT FIELDINGS BRUTALITY WERE NOT COMPLETE STORIES, SUCH AS THE ONE WHERE HE MURDERED 3 OF THE MEN IN NEWSOMES 18TH CAVALRY, AND BURIED THEM AS MILE MARKERS UP AND DOWN THE ROAD TO POCAHONTAS, HE TRUELY DID THOSE THINGS BUT THE REASON WAS BECAUSE THOSE MEN HAVING A GRUDGE AGAINST HIM WENT TO THE HOUSE OF HIS BROTHER LOOKING FOR FIELDING, THEY STARTED TAKING THINGS FROM THE HOUSE AND THREW THE LADY OF THE HOUSE WHO HAPPENED TO BE UPON HER DEATH BED ONTO THE FLOOR BREAKING HER HIP, WHEN HER SON WHO HAPPENED TO BE SOME SAY 16, SOME SAY 18, HEARD THE NOISE AND CAME TO INVESTIGATE WAS TAKEN BY THESE MEN KNOWN AS THE WHORTON GANG, AND TIED TO A TREE, FAMILY HAS IT THEY CUT OFF HIS MANHOOD BEFORE SHOOTING HIM TO DEATH.ONCE IN MCNAIRY COUNTY THE HURSTS OWNED A LARGE AREA AND CALLED IT HURST NATION. IT WAS LIKE 20 MILES LONG AND 15 MILES WIDE, IN PURDY THEY STILL HATE FIELDING FOR HIS STAND IN THE WAR, THEY WILL NOT LET A MARKER BE ERECTED IN HIS HONOR IT WAS PLACED ELSEWHERE. HE WAS A LAWYER, JUDGE, COL IN THE WAR, AND TREASURER I CAN;T IMAGINE HIM TO BE SO BAD THAT THE LITTLE SOUTHERN TOWN HE LIVED IN STILL HATING HIM. THERE IS A PHOTO OF HIS MEN IN THE WEB SITE CALLED HURST NATION.MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS dhenderson14@apmail.apsu.edu